Amateur Hockey Association of Mt. Pleasant president Len Klakulak managed to hold a full-week-long camp for kids in Mt. Pleasant for $199 a child by recruiting Red Wings legend Gordie Howe to sign autographs at the camp's conclusion to help ddefray costs, and at the end of the day on Friday, the Morning Sun's Jim Lahde reports that Mr. Hockey met with a grateful gaggle of campers:

August 20, The Morning Sun: “Hockey because of the economy has really taken a hit because it’s not a
cheap sport,” [Klakulak] said. “We’re trying to bring people in with programs
like this camp. Normally a camp like this would run between $350 and
$500. We’re doing other things too like with our 8-and-under
crews, we let them come in and use our equipment for free so they don’t
have to go out and purchase that stuff.”

Over the course of the day Howe met with the 73 youth hockey players on hand and was more then generous with his time. He
signed jerseys, T-shirts and posters, and had a constant stream of fans
milling around him in the concourse during the lunch hour. He took time
for photos with wellwishers and even threw in a couple good-natured
headlocks and elbows. In short Howe was the center of attention and he welcomed it with a loving embrace.

“What
can you say about the guy, there’s an aura in the room around him,”
said boot camp instructor Dan Eves, who plays forward for the Trenton
Devils, a minor league affiliate of the New Jersey Devils. I’ve
been just standing up here trying to be around him. The best thing is he
has such a sense of humor, I was in there getting his autograph and
taking a photo and he throws an elbow and then smiles. Even before he
got here there was a sense of excitement and everyone was a little
distracted. Then when we got off the ice the kids just flocked around
him.”